W5 - Personal Utopia: Designing Your Ideal Society

Utopia, a flawless dimension that does not exist in any society in the current real life world, whereby every resident was satisfied and happy unanimously (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.); a space whereby there are no societal problems that will pressure everyone, regardless if it has a direct or indirect impact towards their lives. Currently, it is a space that people can hardly reach even if they have achieved financial, time, and physical freedom.

For me, a personal utopia, is going to be similar to the time back to the Shôwa Jidai ( The generation of Showa), an era that is full of retro and nostalgic elements. I will attempt to recreate the life of people back in the days where they embraced and cherished each other in workplaces, families, and friend groups which makes a big difference between current’s urban city’s individualistic culture. Japan Experience (2019) stated that the Shôwa era (1926–1989) is the longest in Japan history, with 63 years of sovereignty under Emperor Hirohito (para.2). Many Japanese have witnessed both the ups and downs of Japan’s strategic and fantastic transformation in their politics and culture. In this blog, let us combine the modern and traditional side of current politics and culture with the conventional Shôwa culture.

In this personal utopia, the governance will not be exactly following the rules of that era. The government will appreciate participative culture while abiding by the hierarchical status that is originally rooted in Japan.  In my opinion, this can construct a respectful yet peaceful workplace culture which sounds contradictory. However, this is an effective way to develop close relationships between colleagues and superiors that eliminates nepotism and bias; moreover, employees and workers can maintain and understand the importance of courtesy and respect to their subordinates and bosses. Next, nepotism will be strictly inhibited to prevent the spread of toxic working culture such as bribery and discrimination.’

Next, the education will not only focus on academic performances, instead, it will emphasize on the overall development of people’s general knowledge and lifelong learning skills. This is to ensure that every individual has the chance to learn how to survive in the society when they grow up; on the other hand, when people age, they cannot ignore the fact that they have to follow the pace of latest trends and fashions. In this utopia, it is still crucial to educate and inform the senior citizens regarding any innovations occurring within the utopia society. For instance, teenagers and children will need to learn how to cook simple dishes, how to withdraw money from the ATM machine instead of learning algebra and calculus. Senior citizens need to learn how to use electronic devices like computers and phones to at least keep in touch with technological advancement, and most importantly, to contact their children or spouses when they want to freely. In a long term development, there will be no competitiveness amongst people as the knowledge conveyed was generalized and everyone knew about them, which indirectly eliminates peer pressure and stress.

Moreover, in this utopian world, everything emphasizes human bonding and relationships; hence support a neighborhood community life. Online window shopping will not be the dominant trend and option for people to purchase items. Instead, there will be traditional marketplaces and retro-style architecture shoplots as displayed in Figure 1.0 and Figure 2.0. Everything is about nostalgia here. Therefore, paper notes and face to face purchase is encouraged here. The marketplace and shops are also considered as a space for socialization which keeps human bonding in contact to build better bonds. A small talk with the shop owners, hanging out with friends for a shopping spree would sound more appealing and ideal. Unlike current lifestyles whereby most people’s relationships started from the foundation of mutual benefits, the only communication target is their mobile devices.

Last but not least, imagine children having their fun time at parks and playgrounds, with a group of elderly people playing chess with a cup of brewing hot tea on top of wooden tables and stools inside a hut or gazebo in the evening. This creates a harmonious and peaceful environment that perfectly portrays the daily life of this Utopian community in the neighborhood. I would describe this scenario as my source of inspiration in building my personal utopia, it will be evening for 24/7, totally stress free, without interruptions from electronic devices with everyone just attempting to live out their own lives as if it's their last moment to indulge and savor themselves in this nostalgic utopia just as in Figure 3.0 and Figure 4.0. Perhaps I am an old soul trapped in a young body, but this is exactly the utopia that I wanted to live in, despite if others think that it is just plain and ordinary.

Figure 1.0 Traditional Marketplaces in Japan

Source: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2452.html 

Figure 2.0 Traditional Architecture of Japanese Shop

Source: https://images.app.goo.gl/1ZyKMWC826VrYt8XA 

Figure 3.0 Moodboard 1 for My Personal Utopia

Source: https://images.app.goo.gl/2tpbYjmkg2UcJfCM8 

Figure 4.0 Moodboard 2 for My Personal Utopia

Source: https://images.app.goo.gl/vypncA99KgdJtN8r9 

References

Utopia. (n.d.). In Cambridge University Press (Ed.), Cambridge dictionary | English dictionary, translations & thesaurus. Cambridge University Press. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/utopia 

Showa Era Lifestyle Museum. (2020, December 5). History. https://showa-era-lifestyle-museum.city.kitanagoya.lg.jp/history/#:~:text=The%20%E6%98%AD%E5%92%8C%20Sh%C5%8Dwa%20era%20was,became%20popular%20around%20the%20world